March 5th, 2010

[Day] of [Month], 1983 FG

Malkus and Fisher are not happy with each other. Mal made contact with the mages holding Ethan and, in the process, mistakenly got confused for a Suul agent working to destroy them. I wasn't around for all the details but apparently he was planning to use that confusion toward our advantage. Fisher, who was with him during the meeting, felt it was a silly ruse and blew his cover. Now Mal feels undermined and unrespected.

Fisher's decision appears to be working out for us but I can understand Malkus' frustration. Had circumstances been different and Malkus knew something that Fisher didn't, the situation could have gone very sour. How can a leader trust his men when they don't trust him?

The Suul government has a striking similarity to that of the Silothreni. They both fear mages and, as a result, force them into a rigid system in which they can be controlled. Their approaches are slightly different, but the result seems the same; many of the mages feel like slaves. It's a sad life and it makes me wonder; are the Celestine any different?

April 9th, 2010

[Day] of [Month], [Year] FG

We managed to cure Fisher of his curse. The dwarven priest was holding an ancient human mage prisoner. She speaks what's presumably the tongue of the ancients and very broken sylwith, both very curious facts. Even more interesting, however, is the fact that she's still alive. She's human, yet she possesses incredible longevity. Anyway, this human mage is named Deidra and she used the magic necessary to restore Fisher.

Shortly after leaving the dwarven ruins, we encountered a group of men from the town intent on protecting the spirit sanctuary from Malkus. They weren't difficult to overcome but their reasoning for fighting us was very interesting. They believe that Malkus carries some sort of darkness with him. It makes me wonder if that's somehow related to his ability to commune with the dead.

Further up the mountain and just before entering the spiritual refuge—where Ethan was hiding—was a thick mist that makes itself visible to anyone carrying weapons. More importantly, it drained the magic right from the air. I was glad to stay behind and converse with Deidra about the state of the magic in the world. She came from a world rich with the force. Now, most societies are very frightened of it and seek to prevent its use as much as possible.

The general populace of the world is nothing like the Aerinal. Magical ability is relatively uncommon and I think it makes the vast majority of the people uneasy of those that can use it. It's strange to me, really. Among my people, such a characterstic is considered a handicap. It's almost as if I've entered a world of the deaf where they're all jealous of those that can hear. Some even seem to believe that the lack of "hearing" is a gift that elevates them above those that can "hear." Phoenix seems to be the only place that I've encountered that allows magic to thrive.

Those that went into the mist returned some time later. Satisfied that we had "silenced" Ethan—which was apparently a conspiracy against the Celestine rebels all along—we headed back down the mountain, only this time to follow a different path. We had learned that Bridgette was likely being held by Suul soldiers that had followed us up the mountain and, after encountering her, left another way.

We found the soldiers and carried out a well orchestrated surprise attack during the night. We were outnumbered at least three-to-one and completely overcame them. They seemed to be expecting us, and even had an ambush prepared, but in the end they failed miserably; this time it wasn't because of a random lizard man.

May 7th, 2010

[Day] of [Month], [Year] FG

What a day! We were hired for a local job to investigate the basement of a property that our client had just purchased. Apparently he uncovered an entrance to a large church and vault that some hostile creatures had been using for a home.

The church dates back about 300 years, which Malkus pointed out was during the Reckoning, a time in which the gods weren't around. I find the idea of worshipping deities that have only been around for a few years somewhat silly. My people have been communing with our ancestors for years. This church of Orkist—the name of the deity—is likely just a sanctuary for someone's ancestor. In fact, I often wonder if that's who all of these gods are that people are talking about; Danica, Omni, Baalam, etc. It's quite possible that Danica is the ancestor of the Celestines, Omni of the Suul, and the other gods the ancestors of their people.

After clearing the basement for our client, we decided to relax at a nearby tavern. That's when we were contacted by a well-dressed dwarf and invited to some sort of secret auction that would take place in the middle of the night.

Three items were offered at the auction and our group bought two of them. Fisher, who was drunk at the time, bought a book that would translate whatever he wrote in it. I bought what's presumably one of Feldon's spell books. It'll be interesting to see what I can learn from it. The other item was some sort of plate that could be used to augment magical ability. It requires a sample of material related to the spell to be placed on it. For example, Malkus placed ash on it to enhance his use of fire magic.

Feldon's book is very interesting. The average mage can read the majority of it without any problems. However, a password is required to uncover the most important content, something I was able to uncover through analyzing it. I'm not certain if I'm going to share that password with any of my companions at the moment. I think it'd be better to see what the password is hiding before I disclose it. Of course, Malkus is still going to want to look at it and he helped me to obtain it at the price I did. He has quite the way with words. Anyway, I'll tell him that it has some sort of magical protection over it but I won't say what it is. I'll just allow him to believe that I don't know.

From looking through the book, it appears that Feldon was a meta mage. One spell I found deeply interesting was what he called Absorb Enchantment, a spell used to remove an enchantment from something and then use its energy to power another spell. Considering what we found when in Riverton, finding such a spell leads me to believe that this may have actually been Feldon's book.

His book also addresses several methods of extending one's life ranging from undead rituals, to contracts with the void, and to magical spells to restore one's youth. It seems to me that he's very obsessed with prolonging his life... Deidra said her life was prolonged through the use of magic. I wonder if her method is covered in this book. I'll need to discuss with her how her life was extended and see how it correlates with Feldon's research. In fact, I'll need to get as much use out of this book as I can. Something like this would be heavily sought after by powerful people. It would be best to not hold onto it for a long period of time.